Waking early led me to a really cool view of Venus and the Moon hanging tough in the Eastern skies just before dawn (~5:30am MDT). Of all days, but "Earth Day"!
The previous day began with snow, continued with snow, and ended with snow; ah the unsettled weather of Spring in New Mexico. This morning, I awoke, to a blanket of fresh snow that fell through the night (about 5 inches total). The snow is thick and wet, bringing the tree boughs down in a dropping posture, soon to be released as the snow comes out and the melting process begins.
It is now approaching mid-April, and one would normally expect the seasonal entrance into Spring with mild temperaures and the blustry winds of New Mexico. In contrast, however, the weekend was marked with reasonable precipitation in the form of snow. Yesterday (Saturday 11 April) was exemplary of the perfect snow storm, where large flakes of wet snow mixed with episodes of grapple (or the German form graupel) to cover all exposed surfaces. The real beauty of this storm was the 32°F temperature and an omni-present calm, which made it near perfe
The air is turblent with strong winds coming from the south-southwest. Sustained gusts over 30MPH, with the highest at 45MPH. Clouds begin to roll over the crest of the Sandias as the midday sun begins its quick descent toward the west.
Observing "Earth hour" last night led to an amazing view of a falling star, a meteor, or the flaming path of space junk. At or there abouts 9pm MST, looking to the south, was the initial streak of red-orange that quickly turned to a blueish glow as the object eventually burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. The brilliance of this single event is certainly in the top 5 sightings that I have experienced in my life-time.
